permaculture

[Toby Hemenway <hemenway@jeffnet.org>]

Daniel wrote (snipping a bunch of perceptive comments!),

>  does anyone know if any academic work has been done
> regarding this matter[permaculture theory of knowledge]?   i feel that Pc
*may* benefit from some such
> rigourous analysis,

Pc people tend not to be very academic (tho some of us, like me, have fled
academia). Philosophy of science is a regular cottage industry and has been
instrumental in directing science into productive areas and out of blind
alleys (Kuhn's work on paradigm shifts, Popper's on falsifiability as a
criterion for a hypothesis, are two good examples, but let me come back to
earth here) I agree that Pc could benefit from the same kind of analysis.
This listserv is a good example of why we should undertake it--the same
questions come up repeatedly, like the theory vs. practice one, the 5
physical zones versus Zone 00 and 6 that are non-physical, that show that
we're still ironing out a lot of basic issues. Much of the trouble stems
from Mollison's haphazard assembly of principles, strategies, and examples
(I can't expect Bill to be perfect). It's a project that's on my wish list
of things to give to Pc someday. I know a lot of people aren't interested in
that sort of thing, or see the need for it, but theory almost always stakes
out the ground that practice later enters (just ask Marx or Adam Smith or
Einstein or, gosh, Mollison). And it would help immensely to have a good
epistemological basis or text to point to when trying to get Pc into local
government or schools or foundations.

 
> [Franks post]
>> To say that 
>> every situation is unique begs the question and turns some off.
>>  Don't know why we can't begin to map out strategies that fit for specific
>> climates/areas.

This points to the value of demonstration sites, where people can see Pc in
practice in their bioregions without hiring a designer, and where general
principles are applied locally and can be seen to work (or not, which is of
equal if not more value).

I'd also love to see a set of regional handbooks: Pc for coastal NS Wales,
or NW USA, urban strategies for London, that could include Pc-friendly
organizations as well as plants, guilds, and techniques.

Toby